Social media like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook can be a delivery system for nurturing content. I just saw a Tweet come through the stream from the Marketing Sherpa B2B Summit that reads: So if sending an email isn't nurturing what is? b2bsummit. Lead nurturing is about providing the right content at the right time that addresses a problem that a prospect is focused on (or at least considering)  solving. Lead nurturing is done best when it addresses each stage of the buying process in parallel with your prospect's position in the buying process. As can virtual events. MORE >>

media coverage. Arguably, content strategy is most often thought of as a marketing application. That's a great start, but it doesn't do the practice justice. In fact, that view tends to cause siloed efforts and limit the potential of content strategy. Content is a part of everything a business does in regards to communicating with prospects, customers, and the industries their offerings serve. Content is anything that says something about your company, brand, expertise, or point of view that forms an impression, including: email. video. articles. white papers. blog posts. Tweets. MORE >>

lack of click through—whether from social media or email—indicates that your message isn't resonating with your audience. If an individual reacts to your content by leaving a comment or saying something on social media or replying to an email, a relevant response is warranted. One of the mandates bandied about lately is that B2B marketers need to become listeners. They should set up listening posts and they must listen first, before launching marketing programs. Anyone who's married or in a relationship can relate to "listening." Few Ways Listening Goes Wrong. MORE >>

Time we have precious little of with all the social media interaction, email, meetings and job responsibilities. Judging by the amount of online noise being generated, the idea of publishing content is no longer considered to be an "edgy" proposition for many vendors. But noise isn't going to help you meet your goals. The thing about noise is that we've all become adept at tuning it out. There's just so much of it that we've had to develop the survival skill of discernment. We've become very swift judges of what's useful and what's wasting our time. MORE >>

For those of you who always ask me how I know buyers are using social media during their buying process, here you go: This presents a real need to be using social media to advance buying conversations. This should help dispel the argument that tech buyers aren't using social media. As marketers, we like to think we know what our buyers need and want and that we give it to them across the course of their buying process. But, do we really? If we're only listening to what they say and not watching their behavior, we may miss a few critical nuances. Oh, and thanks! MORE >>